A Red River of Cherry Blossoms
by ChronicLegCramp-Since'99
Summary: '"Rukia," a voice called to her, dancing along the gentle breeze; she immediately spun in the direction it had come from, recognising the voice as she would recognise her zanpakuto. But the person that materialised in the distance was not who the voice belonged to.' Implied, one-sided ByaRuki. Enjoy!


**A Red River of Cherry Blossoms**

**A BLEACH One-Shot by ChronicLegCramp-Since'99**

*Disclaimer: BLEACH and all its characters do not belong to me*

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Rukia was dreaming. She was naked, apart from a length of garnet-coloured, satin material, wrapped around her small frame in a makeshift dress, bunching up on the floor at her feet. The space around her, that her mind had conjured up, was completely blank, white. However, the floor seemed to be made up of a river of sakura blossoms; water washed slowly, soothingly, over her feet and dampened the bottom of her 'dress'. Despite the conditions, Rukia was comfortably warm, as she relished in the flowery scent filling her nose.

"Rukia," a voice called to her, dancing along the gentle breeze; she immediately spun in the direction it had come from, recognising the voice as she would recognise her zanpakuto. But the person that materialised in the distance was not who the voice belonged to. Rukia's midnight blue eyes took in the spiky red hair and the black facial tattoos, wearily.

"Rukia…" the same voice whispered, taunting her. She turned to her right and once again was met with someone other than the owner of the deep, resonating, voice that echoed off the invisible walls she was enclosed in. With a pained sigh, she closed her eyes on the bright orange hair and the obnoxious, yet selfless, brown eyes. The water flowing beneath her feet had grown icy, and her body had started trembling, violently.

"Where are you?" she called out, so cold now that she could just see her breath passing between her chattering teeth, and melding with the mind-numbing whiteness around her.

"Right here,"

"Over here,"

Rukia split a half-desperate look between her two closest friends, before grabbing handfuls of the satin she was swathed in, raising it off the floor and attempted to get away. Her efforts were met with resistance; her legs were in slow motion. It was typical of a dream- though, more so of nightmares- but it did its job and frustrated her all the same. She started panicking, hearing the two boys calling to her and getting closer all the while.

"Where are you?!" she repeated, voice rising an octave in her growing fear. It had begun to rain down with the vibrant pink blossoms, but where they touched her skin, it felt like a dozen shards of ice- or a thousand swords. Blood ran in ribbons down her soft, pale skin as she pushed her legs to run, to no avail. "Help me!"

"Anything ya want,"

"No problem, I'll protect you,"

"No, not you," she quivered, turning back to face them, splayed hands out in front of her. "I don't want either of you!" her mouth went dry and the knots in her stomach tightened as she saw their faces; they weren't just vacant, they were featureless. Rukia barely had time to stifle a scream before a pair of strong, resilient, arms secured her from behind. Heat radiated off his body, reheating her skin- which had almost gotten to the point of thawing- as long silky, strands of crow-black hair brushed against her bare shoulders, tickling her. Rukia's muscles collapsed in the relief she felt, leaning back into the familiar and very much longed for, embrace.

"Were you calling for me. Rukia." He spoke into her left ear, in a low, seductive voice.

"Yes…" she murmured, eyes falling shut in her fatigue.

"This is what you really want?" she felt his lush lips press against the side of her throat, possessively.

"Yes…"

"As you wish…" her eyes flew wide then. A sharp pain shot through her, spreading out from her neck; she could feel warm liquid dripping down onto her shoulder and down, over her collarbone.

"Nii-" her protests cut off, when he lifted a hand to cup her face, holding it in place- the tips of his fingers digging in. The pain slowly began to subside, giving way to just a dull ache and her arms, quickly weakening, ceased in their struggling. He stopped, tongue swiping out over the bloody, tender wound. "Byakuya-sama…"

* * *

The dream snapped out like a breaking light bulb and Rukia bolted upright, clutching at the sweaty sheets she was entangled in. In the dim light, she made out the figure of her brother-in-law, sitting silently at the foot of her bed. His hair was loose, falling in front of his eyes and he wore only his grey pyjama bottoms.

"You were having a bad dream." Came his voice, with its usual, deep, emotionless tones. He didn't look at her. She shut her mouth, not daring to breathe, let alone break the quiet. "Get some rest. Rukia." She watched his graceful movements, as he got up and made his way to the door. On the way out she caught a brief glimpse of his face, illuminated in the moonlight; it looked like there were worry lines around his mouth, although his dark eyes looked as unfathomable as ever. Once he was gone, Rukia curled up into a ball on her side, eyes wide open and staring into space. She knew that when sleep drew her back into its grasp, she would inevitably, dream about him. She just hoped this dream wasn't in any way like the previous one.

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**_Thanks for reading- this may have been a little influenced by Vampire Knight (theres just too much saucy biting in that anime- love it!)_**

**_Byakuya-samas a vampire *PLOT TWIST* lol I hope that wasnt the cheesiest thing you've ever read :P _**


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